Russellville Council OKs standard street lightingAfter members of the Russellville City Council voted against installing decorative lighting on Sequoyah Way that would have cost over $400,000, aldermen voted 7-1 to install Entergy-owned standard poles and lights during its November regular meeting at City Hall. Public Works Director Kurt Jones said the decorative lighting, at an estimated cost of $429,466.50, was similar to the lights and poles on O Street and the Phoenix Avenue bridge. If E...

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BY SEAN INGRAM
sean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Police: Man recorded via cell phone during attack on womanA woman recorded a man telling her "I will [expletive] cut your throat" in front of her three children on Friday, according to a report by the Pope County Sheriff's Office. The victim called 911 and reported that Asa L. Miller, 25, was outside her residence with a knife in his hand, but the call was lost when Miller gained entry to the home. When police arrived on scene, they observed Miller back outside the residence and detained him immediat...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSON
simpson@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Community people: Jim Davidson, Shawn Pierce and Kelly Davis.THE COURIER / Submitted Jim Davidson (center), CEO of Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Russellville, recently spoke to the Russellville Rotary Club. Davidson shared his passion for the medical profession and his leadership style that he has brought to Saint Mary's. Davidson also shared his philosophy of having a strong medical offering in a city the size of Russellville and the advantages of a strong partnership. With Davidson are Rotar...

Arkansas man admits stealing Geena Davis' laptopBENTONVILLE — An Arkansas man has pleaded guilty to stealing a laptop from actress Geena Davis. Investigators say 67-year-old Gerardo Mancia-Hernandez took the computer on a luggage cart after Davis arrived at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport on May 1. Investigators say the actress placed her computer on the cart when she stopped to take a picture next to a poster for Arkansas' Bentonville Film Festival, which she co-founded in 2015. Airpor...

Bill Clinton to hold Little Rock event with Liberian leaderLITTLE ROCK— Former President Bill Clinton is returning to Arkansas next month for an event featuring Africa's first democratically elected female president. The Clinton Foundation and the Clinton School of Public Service will host the event Dec. 4 in Little Rock featuring Clinton and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Sirleaf, who is a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is in her second term as president of the West African nation. A runoff ele...

Obituary: Bobby D. HubbardBobby D. Hubbard died on Aug. 29, 2017. Bobby was born on Feb. 20, 1940. A public family hosted memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 25, at the City Cemetery in Atkins.

Obituary: W.A. McAnultyW.A. “Dub” McAnulty, 83, of Pottsville, passed away Monday, Nov. 20, 2017, at his home. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24, 2017, at Russellville Family Funeral Chapel. Funeral Service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 25, 2017, at Russellville Family Funeral Chapel with the Rev. Jim Findley and the Rev. Randy Findley officiating. Burial will be in Pisgah Cemetery under the direction of Russellville Family Funeral. Online obituar...

Obituary: Jocelyn GrundJocelyn Patricia Von Grund, 89, of Russellville, passed away Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. She was born July 22, 1928, in Multnomah, Ore., to Stanley Grund and Mildred Morse Grund. She is preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by two daughters; Hilary Martino and Clarenda Grund, one brother; Charles Davidson, one great niece; Kasi Thompson and husband Mikel, one great-great niece; Kris Thompson and all the members of Bear Medicine Society....

Obituary: Frieda FrigaFrieda J. Friga, 96, of Paris, passed away on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017, in Paris. She was born on Oct. 4, 1921, in Shoal Creek, to her parents, Lee and Rose (Anhalt) Kremers. She was a hardworking homemaker, a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and Mother’s Society in Paris and the Catholic War Veterans Auxiliary. She is preceded in death by her parents, Lee and Rose (Anhalt) Kremers; her husband, Bernard E. Friga; her grandson, Michael A. Fri...

Plenty of talent at UE5GStudents at UE5G were treated to the many talents of their fellow classmates last week during the school’s annual UE5G Talent Show. Emceed by Alec Van Es, Kamry Rose, Chandler (Peyton) Wynn and Jasmine Collins, over 25 performances ranged from solo and group singing and dancing, instrumentalists, a karate routine, a comedy skit and a stop-motion animation paired with a solo pianist. Under the direction of UE5G teacher Shea Williamson, students...

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THE COURIER / Joshua MashonThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Judge hears Clean Line argumentsAn attorney representing landowners opposing a high voltage transmission line across the Arkansas River Valley argued in federal court Nov. 14 that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is using eminent domain authority solely to allow a Texas partnership to move forward with the controversial $2 billion project. But DOE, Department of Justice and attorneys representing Houston-based Plains and Eastern Clean Line countered that the Arkansas land...

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BY WESLEY BROWN Talk Business & PoliticsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Council says no to trash price increaseThe Russellville City Council voted during its regular meeting Thursday to not approve a 50 cent consumer price index increase requested by Waste Management, the city's trash and recycling hauler. Representatives of Waste Management provided a pricing history to aldermen that residents were paying $18.50 per month when the city opened bids in 2008. Their company offered trash and recycling pickup for $14.48 until 2012, when it went up to $13.3...

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BY SEAN INGRAM
sean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Local man, 22, drowns in river while huntingKNOXVILLE -- A Russellville man has drowned after his boat capsized on the river during a duck hunt. According to reports, that divers with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission found 22-year-old Chase Standridge's body in the water near Cabin Creek in south Johnson County on Sunday. A commission spokesman said Standridge was duck hunting Saturday on the Arkansas River in high winds between Knoxville and Cabin Creek. The spokesman said Standri...

Saturday collision on Hwy. 10 kills 2Emily D Fitch, 25, and Andres G. Martinez, 21, both of Casa, were killed in a motor vehicle accident on State Highway 10 near Ola at approximately 4:41 a.m. on Saturday. According to a police report, the vehicle Martinez was driving crossed the center line and struck Fitch's vehicle. Fitch was traveling westbound on Highway 10, while Martinez was traveling eastbound. Road conditions were dry and the weather was clear at the time of the acciden...

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Courier staff reportsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Syria's Assad travels to Russia, meets with PutinMOSCOW— Syrian President Bashar Assad was asked to come to Russia to get him to agree to potential peace initiatives drafted by Russia, Iran and Turkey as Russia prepares to scale down its military presence in the country's civil war, the Kremlin said Tuesday. Vladimir Putin hosted his Syrian counterpart in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday, ahead of a summit between Russia, Turkey and Iran and a new round of Syria peace talks in Geneva....

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By NATALIYA VASILYEVA and BASSEM MROUE, Associated PressAssociated Press

Trump administration announces sanctions against North KoreaWASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to announce Tuesday new sanctions on North Korea, after declaring it a state sponsor of terrorism in the latest push to isolate the pariah nation. North Korea has joined Iran, Sudan and Syria on America's terror blacklist, a largely symbolic step as the administration already has the authority to impose virtually any sanctions it wants on Kim Jong Un's government over its nuclear weapons development....

CBS co-hosts on Charlie Rose: not the man I knowNEW YORK — Charlie Rose's co-hosts on "CBS This Morning" sharply condemned their suspended colleague Tuesday after the airing of sexual misconduct allegations that included groping female staffers and walking around naked in front of them, saying that it's a time of reckoning in society. "This has to end," said Norah O'Donnell. The morning show — normally hosted by Rose, O'Donnell and Gayle King — was down to the two women and the accusations ...